U.S. Manufacturing PMI Falls to Nine-Month Low

10-Sept-2018

Manufacturing activity in August fell to a nine-month low despite an increase in output and new orders, according to a report released Tuesday.

The final reading of the IHS Markit U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index for August was 54.7, down from the July reading of 55.3.

IHS Markit said August’s reading signaled “the weakest improvement in operating conditions since last November.”

IHS Markit said employment and backlogs saw solid increases, while rates of inflation in input prices and output charges fell.

“Exports remain the key source of weakness for producers, with foreign orders barely rising in August after two months of modest declines,” IHS Markit Chief Business Economist Chris Williamson said in prepared remarks. “Tariffs and trade wars were also commonly cited as factors behind companies building safety stocks of inputs to ensure supply or lock-in lower prices, exacerbating supply shortages and also driving prices even higher.”

Almost two-thirds of companies surveyed reporting higher input prices blamed tariffs as the cause of increased costs, Mr. Williamson said. Almost one in three cited tariffs as the cause of having to raise prices to customers, he said.

Source: THE WALL STREET JOURNAL